I! Cleaner!

"..."

Watching Leon fabricate a handle out of thin air, then use this newly crafted handle to ruthlessly threaten him, Atifei-00's brain, miles away, throbbed painfully.

This person seems even more troublesome than Andre. I must have been out of my mind to think about greeting him before.

After cursing twice in his mind, Atifei-00, with a gloomy face filled with frustration, said:

"I've already told you, between you and Andre, I prefer you to win. Even if you don't do such things..."

"If I don't do such things, you'll continue to be indecisive and never truly put your all into helping us."

Interrupting Atifei-00, Leon confidently said:

"Besides, as the 'Creator' of Atifei-01, you haven't been destroyed by Andre due to his anger, which proves that you're useful to him and possibly irreplaceable.

So, before this, even if we couldn't subdue Andre, you wouldn't really be destroyed by him. At most, you'd live an average life; you have a way out with him. But now it's different."

At this point, Leon reached into his pocket, fished out an ear whose end frayed into numerous threads, and waved it in front of Atifei-00.

"This is Senior Aljay's ear. He has been eavesdropping on all our previous conversations."

As Atifei-00's expression drastically changed, Leon calmly stated:

"Senior Aljay won't participate in the following matters; he will try to stay away. If we lose to Andre, he will immediately report everything he heard to him, word for word.

In other words, if we win, you might be safe, but if we lose, you will surely die. So how to proceed next, I shouldn't need to teach you, right?"

"..."

Seriously... I just wanted to say hello, how did I end up wrapped in chains, tightly bound to the front of his war chariot?

Hearing Leon's blatant threat, Atifei couldn't help but bite her lip in frustration. Then, taking a deep breath, she said with an unfriendly expression:

"That's what you say, but as I mentioned before, my control is all in Andre's hands. If I do anything against him, I'd be shut down immediately, so..."

"So you can assist me in doing things without directly betraying him."

Leon stared at Atifei-00 and demanded:

"Tell me first what commands he issued to you. Not to disclose unfavorable information about him? Not to reveal his trump cards?"

"His phrasing is a bit different, but both of these do exist."

Atifei replied helplessly:

"Besides that, I must constantly monitor, and if I find any potential targets likely to be yours attempting to leave the Crolock Kingdom, I'm to cover them with heavy firepower and bomb them until they're completely eradicated."

Thank goodness I didn't run at that time, or else I'd probably be bombarded all the way through. I might survive with Immortal of Liquor, but the others certainly wouldn't make it.

After pondering for a moment, Leon asked:

"So he didn't order you to report on the situation of the Crolock Kingdom to him, right?"

"He didn't."

Atifei-00 shook her head.

"Andre's brain isn't skilled at handling information. The Crolock Kingdom might be small, but it's still a country with numerous daily events; he can't manage them all."

"Alright."

Leon raised an eyebrow and said:

"Because of the morning broadcast, Andre is now huddled up in Research Zone 1, unable to come out, so he basically can't receive outside information. You're his only channel to learn about external news, am I right?"

"That's correct..."

"Then it's simple."

Leon nodded in agreement and, while rummaging through the mirrored world, instructed:

"Aren't the districts of the Crolock Kingdom mobile? Without moving Research Zone 1, shift the other districts, trying to position Research Zone 1 near the edge."

"Are you planning to head straight for Zone 1 and attack Andre directly?"

"Who knows."

Without having true control over Atifei-00, Leon wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal his entire plan.

Smiling at her puzzled expression, Leon found a camera larger than his head from the mirror world. He stepped forward and took a couple of shots of the old King's skull, then instructed:

"Lend a hand, uncover everyone's skulls for me to photograph."

"Alright..."

Faced with Leon's request, Atifei-00, being blackmailed, had no choice but to comply.

Soon, under her control, all the sub-bodies in the Preservation Hall raised their hands, pressing the mechanism under the back of their heads, flipping up the cover-like top half of their skulls, exposing the delicate brains within, encased in transparent gel. The sight made one's scalp tingle instinctively.

"Are you planning to send these photos out to completely confirm the morning's broadcast?"

Watching Leon, armed with a camera acquired who-knows-where, snapping vigorously at the Atifei sub-bodies in the Preservation Hall, Atifei-00 pondered for a moment before suggesting:

"If that's the case, I can easily control their expressions. Would you like me to adjust them, make their expressions more painful and despairing?"

"No need."

Without hesitation, Leon refused Atifei-00's suggestion and continued shooting while answering casually:

"While an expression of pain and despair isn't bad, it only scares people. Though the impact is decent now, once turned into static photos, the effect is just barely passable.

On the other hand, their current numb and dazed look, staring at the camera like puppets, eerily human yet not human, can make one's skin crawl at a glance, sending chills from the heart outward... Oh, right."

Upon saying this, Leon paused his photography and, after examining the surroundings with a frown, demanded:

"The lighting is a bit too bright. Replace this batch with dimmer lights, preferably the cold, bluish kind that makes faces look ghostly pale.

Once that's done, adjust the lights and people's angles. Make sure they tilt their heads slightly, shading the lower half of their faces diagonally in shadows, to highlight those dull, dead eyes... Yes, that's the feeling!"

"..."

Seriously... How is a pampered prince so skilled at such tasks?

Watching Leon, after adjusting the setup, snapping vigorously in the now eerier Preservation Hall, the exposed brains of the Atifei sub-bodies as his focus, Atifei-00 couldn't help but twitch at the corners of her mouth. She then ground her teeth and stomped a foot before voluntarily offering:

"I also have evidence of Andre controlling the army corps commanders, want to take some shots of that too?"

"Yes!"